Example: Mandala

Published 2012-01-19 | Author: Elena Botoeva

Maṇḍala means “circle” in Sanskrit. Mandalas are concentric diagrams, which have a spiritual and ritual meaning in both Buddhism and Hinduism.

Here we use TikZ for drawing such geometric patterns. The fading slows down the compilation.

Open the PDF file to see all mandalas.

Download as: [PDF] [TEX]

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% Mandala
% Author: Elena Botoeva
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=0.3cm, paperwidth=8.4cm, paperheight=8.4cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shadows}
\usetikzlibrary{fadings}

\tikzfading[name=fade out, inner color=transparent!0,
  outer color=transparent!100]

\def\petal { 
  [rounded corners=0.5] %
  (-1,0)%
  .. controls (-1,0.6) and (-0.07,0.8).. (0,1)%
  .. controls (0.07,0.8) and (1,0.6).. (1,0)%
  .. controls (0.7,-1) and (-0.7,-1).. (-1,0)%
}

%%%%% circles in the background %%%%%
\def\background[#1,#2]{
  \fill[#1] (0,0) circle (3.9);
  \fill[#2] (0,0) circle (1);
}

%%%%% star and small circle in the center %%%%%
\def\center[#1]{
  \foreach \a in {51.4285,102.857,...,360} { %
    \draw[color=yellow,rotate=\a,fill=#1]
    (-0.08,0) -- (0,0.46) -- (0.08,0); %
  }
  \draw[color=yellow,fill=#1] (0,0) circle (0.1);
}

%%%%%%%%%% Mandala with fixed colouring %%%%%%%%%%
\def \mandala {
  \background[red!30!blue!70!black,blue!70!yellow!50];

  % ysh - yshift
  % xs - xscale
  % ys - yscale
  % af - first angle in foreach
  % as - second angle in foreach
  % y - number in the color specification after yellow
  % b - number in the color specification before blue
  % r - number in the color specification of the shading after red
  % bl - number in the color specification of the shading before black
  \foreach \ysh/\xs/\ys/\af/\as/\y/\b/\w/\r/\bl in {%
    3.06/0.72/0.8/   25.71425/51.4285/    70/100/100/ 100/100,%
    2.34/1/0.9/        25.71425/77.14275/   6/90/92/       80/80,%
    1.8/0.8/0.9/       51.4285/102.857/       0/75/100/     60/70,%
    1.5/0.6/0.6/       25.71425/77.14275/   0/55/100/     40/60,%
    1.1/0.53/0.58/   51.4285/102.857/       0/40/100/     20/50,%
    0.8/0.37/0.45/   25.71425/77.14275/   0/45/85/       20/40,%
    0.53/0.1/0.24/   25.71425/77.14275/   0/10/100/     0/30,%
    0.49/0.22/0.32/ 51.4285/102.857/       0/10/100/     0/50%
  }
  {
    \foreach \a in {\af,\as,...,360}
    {
      \begin{scope}[rotate=\a,shift={(0,\ysh)},xscale=\xs,yscale=\ys]
        \draw[color=yellow,fill=yellow!\y!red!\b!blue!\w] %
        [drop shadow={shadow xshift=0.5pt, shadow yshift=-0.5pt}]
        \petal;
      \end{scope}
      
      \begin{scope}[transform canvas={rotate=\a},shift={(0,\ysh)},xscale=\xs,yscale=\ys]
        \clip \petal; %
        \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=red!\r!blue!\bl!black, opacity=0.7]%
        (0,-0.35) ellipse (1.2 and 0.75);
        \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=red!\r!blue!\bl!black, opacity=0.3]%
        (0,-0.2) ellipse (1.2 and 0.4);

        \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=red!\r!blue,opacity=0.2] %
        (-0.4,0.6) -- (0,0.9) -- (0.4,0.6);
      \end{scope}
    }
  }

  \center[blue]
}
%%%%%%%%%% End of Mandala with fixed colouring %%%%%%%%%%

%%%%% one layer of petals %%%%%
\def\mainbody{
  \foreach \a in {\af,\as,...,360}
  {
    \begin{scope}[rotate=\a,shift={(0,\ysh)},xscale=\xs,yscale=\ys]
      \draw[color=yellow,fill=\c] %
      [drop shadow={shadow xshift=0.5pt, shadow yshift=-0.5pt}]
      \petal;
    \end{scope}

    % fadings
    \begin{scope}[transform canvas={rotate=\a}, shift={(0,\ysh)},xscale=\xs,yscale=\ys]
      \clip \petal; %
      \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=\fc, opacity=0.7]%
      (0,-0.35) ellipse (1.2 and 0.75);
      \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=\fc, opacity=0.3]%
      (0,-0.2) ellipse (1.2 and 0.4);
      \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=\fc,opacity=0.2] %
      (-0.4,0.6) -- (0,0.9) -- (0.4,0.6);
    \end{scope}
  }
}

%%%%%%%%%%% Mandalas with parametrized colouring %%%%%%%%%%
% #1 - the color of the outer most (first) layer
% #2 - the color of the third layer
% #3 - the color of the fifth layer
% #4 - the color of the seventh layer
% #5 - the color of the fading, gets denser closer to the center
\def \mandalac[#1,#2,#3,#4,#5]{
  \background[#3!30!#4!70!#5,#4!70!#2!50];

  % ysh - yshift
  % xs - xscale
  % ys - yscale
  % af - first angle in foreach
  % as - second angle in foreach
  % c - color of the petal
  % fc - color of the fading
  \foreach \ysh/\xs/\ys/\af/\as/\c/\fc in {%
    3.06/0.72/0.8/   25.71425/51.4285  /#1/#1!50!#2!90!#5,%
    2.34/1/0.9/        25.71425/77.14275/#1!50!#2/#2!80!#5,%
    1.8/0.8/0.9/       51.4285/102.857    /#2/#2!50!#3!70!#5,%
    1.5/0.6/0.6/       25.71425/77.14275/#2!50!#3/#3!60!#5,%
    1.1/0.53/0.58/   51.4285/102.857    /#3/#3!50!#4!50!#5,%
    0.8/0.37/0.45/   25.71425/77.14275/#3!50!#4/#4!40!#5,%
    0.53/0.1/0.24/   25.71425/77.14275/#4/#4!50!#5,%
    0.49/0.22/0.32/ 51.4285/102.857    /#4/#4!50!#5%
  }
  {
    \mainbody
  }
  \center[#4]
}

% #1 - the color of the outer most (first) layer
% #2 - the color of the second layer
% #3 - the color of the third layer
% #4 - the color of the forth layer
% #5 - the color of the fifth layer
% #6 - the color of the sixth layer
% #7 - the color of the seventh layer
% #8 - the color of the fading, gets denser closer to the center
\def \mandalab[#1,#2,#3,#4,#5,#6,#7,#8]{
  \background[#6!30!#7!70!#8,#7!70!#4!50];

  % ysh - yshift
  % xs - xscale
  % ys - yscale
  % af - first angle in foreach
  % as - second angle in foreach
  % c - color of the petal
  % fc - color of the fading
  \foreach \ysh/\xs/\ys/\af/\as/\c/\fc in {%
    3.06/0.72/0.8/   25.71425/51.4285  /#1/#2!90!#8,%
    2.34/1/0.9/        25.71425/77.14275/#2/#3!90!#8,%
    1.8/0.8/0.9/       51.4285/102.857    /#3/#4!80!#8,%
    1.5/0.6/0.6/       25.71425/77.14275/#4/#5!80!#8,%
    1.1/0.53/0.58/   51.4285/102.857    /#5/#6!70!#8,%
    0.8/0.37/0.45/   25.71425/77.14275/#6/#7!70!#8,%
    0.53/0.1/0.24/   25.71425/77.14275/#7/#7!50!#8,%
    0.49/0.22/0.32/ 51.4285/102.857    /#7/#7!50!#8%
  }
  {
    \mainbody
  }
  \center[#7]
}
%%%%%%%%%%% End of Mandalas with parametrized colouring %%%%%%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BEGIN DOCUMENT %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\pagestyle{empty}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\begin{document}
\tikz\mandala;

\tikz\mandalac[magenta!30!,magenta,purple,violet,];

\tikz\mandalac[blue!40!black,violet,purple,pink,];

\tikz\mandalac[lime!90!black,yellow!95!black,orange,red,];

\tikz\mandalac[green!80!black,yellow,pink,purple!90!,red];

\tikz\mandalab[green!50!black, green!60!black, green!70!black!80!, green!50!,
  green!10!, pink!40!, red!40!,];

\tikz\mandalab[blue!30!black, blue!40!black, blue!60!black, blue!70!black!80!,
  blue!50!, yellow!40!, yellow!70!,];
\end{document}